By Mohd Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: The Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind (Mahmood Madani faction) will launch Satyagraha demanding reservation for Muslims and inclusion of Dalit Muslims in the SC category list. The Satyagraha announced by the Jamiat is part of their ‘Save the Country and Community’ campaign.
At Lucknow, a protest is proposed on April 28 at Jyotiba Phule Park Chowk followed by court arrest of the Jamiat workers. “It is part of our nationwide campaign for the upliftment of the Muslim community. The step is being taken after the UPA leaders including Prime Minister have failed to fulfill their promises to the community,” remarked Maulana Hayatullah Qasmi, the state chief of the Jamiat.
Regarding the protest, Qasmi said thousands of Jamiat workers will converge in Lucknow on April 28 followed by token court arrest of 313 workers. Over the term Satyagraha Qasmi stated that it is part of the ‘Save the Country and Community’ campaign. After Lucknow such protests will be held in other state capitals of the country. “We first undertook the ‘Save the Country and Community’ campaign in 1979 during Morarji Desai’s regime and later during Charan Singh and in 2002 against Gujarat riots. All these periods were hard times for the Muslims and we overcame,” he said. The cleric expressed satisfaction that Gujarat is now peaceful. “There is aman and sukoon (peace and tranquility) in Gujarat, thankfully,” said Qasmi.
As per Qasmi, the Jamiat leaders started the movement for quota for Muslims and inclusion of Dalit Muslims in SC category on May 3, 2010. “We had meeting with PM Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi who pledged to fulfill it but had failed to deliver. We will now take the battle to street,” said Qasmi.
The Jamiat remained highly critical of UPA regime for not fulfilling their promise for reservation to Muslims. “Our agitation is aimed against UPA government as they had announced it in their manifesto. However, if UP government announces any sops we welcome it,” said Qasmi.